Sweden – 3rd best in the world. Air-conditioner + coffee = a more productive Swede. Alliance ahead in all polls. Pernilla’s salmon.

Sweden – 3rd best in the world
According to a list compiled by Newsweek, Sweden is the third best country in the world to live in. Finland is the best, and Switzerland is number two. Based on five categories of national well-being - education, health, quality of life, economic competitiveness, and political environment — Newsweek, the American weekly magazine, ranked the world's best 100 countries. The data came from sources such as the World Bank, the CIA Factbook, and Freedom House, an independent freedom watchdog organization. Newsweek set out to answer a question “that is at once simple and incredibly complex — if you were born today, which country would provide you the very best opportunity to live a healthy, safe, reasonably prosperous, and upwardly mobile life?” said Rana Foroohar, head of the Newsweek project. While Finland is ranked as the best country in education, as well as best overall, Sweden was found to be the most politically free nation. Norway offered the best quality of life for its citizens, Singapore the most economically dynamic environment, and Japan the world’s healthiest culture. The United States, Newsweek’s home country, just missed the top 10, ranking 11th overall, and 26th in the world for both health and education.

Air-conditioner + coffee = a more productive Swede
What makes the Swede work harder? Give him an air-conditioned space, a coffee machine and perhaps a Danish and you’ll see a more productive Swede. If he goes out for a beer after work with his colleagues, even better. Cint, a marketing research company, asked 300 working Swedes what makes them work harder, and the answer was not reorganization nor was it more business meetings. No, it is access to freshly brewed coffee, harmonious surroundings and plants that do it for the Swede. Almost 90% of the 300 said that the single most important factor for an increased productivity at work is the temperature and quality of the air. Earlier research shows, that Europeans up north have the ideal work temperature (18-20C or 64-68F), but that whenever the temperature reaches over 27C (80F), there’s a dip in productivity. Number 2 in pleasing the Swede at work is coffee or “fika” really, almost 80% believe that’s the most important factor for productivity, and on 3rd place there’s “lunch with the colleagues”. After that come components like “beautiful surroundings”, “fresh water”, “plants and flowers”, and “after work with colleagues”.

Alliance ahead in all polls
With one month to the general election, the Alliance, the governing centre-right coalition, now leads over the opposition parties in the centre-left Red-Green coalition in all opinion polls. But the lead is small, from 1 to 3 %, and therefore within the statistical margin of error. All minor parties that today have seats in the parliament look to stay over the 4 % threshold. But also the nationalist Sweden Democrats seems to gain entrance to Sweden's highest political assembly, and hence it becomes difficult for either of the coalitions to gain a single majority.

Pernilla’s salmon
Here she goes again! Pernilla Wahlgren, the entertainer, who probably missed her true calling: That of a chef. This time she is making salmon. Like most kitchen pros, Wahlgren doesn’t measure her ingredients but cooks “på en höft” (meaning roughly or literally "on the hip"). And with this recipe, we think we can too!
Ingredients:
salmon filets (1 per person)
mushrooms
arugula and fresh spinach
crème fraîche
goat cheese
honey
asparagus
salt and pepper
bulgur
salad
“I fry the salmon along with the mushrooms, which I season with salt, pepper, and persillade,” Pernilla says. “Then I cook the asparagus so it is ‘al dente’ and then I fry it in putter and put parmesan cheese on top. I made the sauce in my mixer. First I put in the arugula and the spinach with some crème fraîche seasoned a bit with honey and goat cheese, then I added some balsamic vinegar and salt. It makes an excellent sauce for grilled food! You can serve it cold but it is great when you heat it a bit. I served the salmon with a nice salad and bulgur. Bon appetit!”